HOUDINI or JPOP, who's the real escape artist?
- Thread starter DRANO
- Start date
meegis
Well-Known Member
That dude is kaneda. He has a pinball podcast, is perma banned from pinside and paid $20,000 to get this mg from the original purchaser.
Chris Bardon
Well-Known Member
Anyone
So there's a MG owner out there who got 20k for this? That's awesome-good for them! At least someone got their money back for this project.
So not only can you not shoot the ramp, but if you do, the whole giant mech in the middle of the PF doesn't do anything? I wonder which has more gameplay-this or a Zizzle?
So there's a MG owner out there who got 20k for this? That's awesome-good for them! At least someone got their money back for this project.
So not only can you not shoot the ramp, but if you do, the whole giant mech in the middle of the PF doesn't do anything? I wonder which has more gameplay-this or a Zizzle?
meegis
Well-Known Member
shinynick
Member
I finally got my MG - almost 6 years in the making!
I just posted my MG Day one report on Pinside - here it is:
Here is my first day testing report on my MG #006 that I picked up from John on Feb 28, 2017. Bear in mind that there are many issues here right out of the box. This machine is not playable yet due to ball hangup issues. I consider all 19+2 MG machines to be prototypes and from what I have seen here and from looking at other peoples’ pics and videos for their MGs I suspect that each machine is different in some ways. I hope this info will assist other owners and I’m very curious if they share these issues.
When I picked up from John I asked him the following:
Does Multiball work? “No”
Is it a code issue only? “Yes” (I don’t think this is true…)
Does the magnaflip playfield work? “Yes”
Does the magnetic “hare” bumper work or do we need to add a magnet under the playfield? “Yes you have to add the magnet and this an optional mod. The code is working for the magnet. I will send you the specs for the magnet. There are several optional mods that will be available and I will publish the info online.”
Setup and Issue Photos:
https://goo.gl/photos/HjHDVdKRqYXHxWFh8
Playfield Issues and notes on my machine:
-Ball hangup issue on ramp beside diverter – ball hits closed diverter and gets stuck behind yellow post. I’m guessing there used to be a lock mech here. May have to install another post to alleviate this…
-Ball cannot clear under ramp diverter – there is not enough room when diverter is opened. May have to install spacers to raise diverter mech slightly. This diverter fires in COIL TEST but I have not seen it fire in a game.
-Ball hangup on right ramp return to right inlane – ball does not fit through hole. Need to adjust ramp and metal piece
-Tesla skill shot – only one opto switch installed and this switch was installed with two sided tape so that the opto LEDs were sticking into the ball path where the ball smashes into them! Need to install spacers for the Opto PCB.
-Spinning disc and centre flipper up post are not flush with playfield and are on an angle – will adjust
-Main plunger shot not hitting hard enough due to plunger gauge metal keeping ball too far from plunger when at rest. My game included a second shooter gauge with graphics on it – I will install to see if problem alleviates. EDIT – installed new gauge, looks nicer but is exact same size. Need a longer shooter rod… will try shorter barrel spring on outside or other measures.
-Center Floating Spinner (jinx Spinner) works but spinner occasionally STRIKES opto LEDs! – must adjust opto PCB mounting so that there is more spinner clearance.
-There may be some switch matrix issues – ball trough opto column 7 switches all light up in switch test whenever column 6 switches are triggered (in switch test). EDIT this may be some weirdness with the Switch test itself – curious if other MG machines exhibit this behavior. Did not notice any trough switch errors while playing.
-Saucer kickout is too strong – ball smashes into Spinning lamp plastics directly above. Maybe missing a deflector?
-Spinning lamp assembly has already fallen apart from testing (and crazy saucer kickout)… will need to modify the 3D printed parts to make it spin smoother
-Ramp entry switch mount is only on one side and is not secure – need to figure out a way to secure from both sides of ramp.
One of the head hinge bolts is loose! – Tightened.
-LCD screen does not have any protective plastic over it and circular ramp is too close and actually touches screen – will to try to move it back… needs a plastic shield over the screen like CV has.
-While testing the machine seemed to CRASH and lock up on me once – cycled power and now machine booted but nothing on LCD… after a few more power cycles it started up ok. Will monitor this behaviour
Coil Issues/ Results from COIL TEST in TEST menu:
Right Magna Flip fires as Left Magna Flip
Left Magna Flip (14) fires as Right Magna Flip
Mystic Ring magnet (29) fires as Box Air Magnet (30) (Possibly re-tasked coil assignment)
Box Air magnet (30) doesn’t fire anything
Bagatelle Popper (31) fires saucer – NOTE this saucer kickout hole fires too hard and shoots ball straight up smashing into spinning genie lamp plastics
Diverter Up Post (11) fires Knocker in head – (Possibly re-tasked coil assignment)
Wand Grab left (12) does nothing
Wand Grab Right Fires Diverter on circular ramp
Left Magic Lock (16) doesn’t do anything
Right Magic Lock doesn’t do anything
(I’m Guessing the Magic Lock coils were the ramp locks for multiball in the protos)
Hare Jet (19) does nothing – needs magnet installed under playfield – connector is there labelled “Hare Jet” for future addition
Magic Mirror (23) does nothing?
Hare Spinning Disc (24 and 25) does nothing… is this a feature that was removed?
Jinx Wheel motor (26) works – mine turns clockwise
Lion Saw Motor (27) does nothing – needs motor/upgraded assembly…
Magna Hare (9) works – magna save above right inlane
Playfield Diverter (10) works – diverts between full left orbit shot or diverts to kings chamber from top
Switch Issues
Ramp Entry switch not working (FIXED - was disconnected under playfield)
Missing Saw 1 Switch - mod/upgrade needed
Tesla Skill 2 (63) One sided opto switch is working but no other Tesla opto switches are installed that I can see – there is a hole for one other opto pair…
“Lead Coin” standup target fires as “Jack Mystery” switch # 48
Playing Notes:
-This machine does not go into ball search so far (Like Kaneda’s does in his videos)– missing this feature?
-The spring under the Magnetic Bumper cap is an actuator for a switch which is working.
-Right orbit shots do not light POWER letters to enable magna flip mini playfield… I did notice that you can enable the magnaflip by centre shots (to be confirmed) … the saucer magnet DID grab the ball but the VUK would not shoot the ball up to the mini playfield to start the mode… NOTE: it looks like all hardware is there to enable magna flip mini playfield. There are no targets to shoot at (as described by Jim) but there is a rear exit shot that goes to another small metal ramp that feeds into a another mini playfield above the pop bumpers. Then it looks like the ball falls through a hole and into the pops area.
-The levitating ball feature works but I can’t get the ball to levitate “above” the magnet as described… it hovers inside the square magnet assembly thus far. Also note that the blue standup target that activates this feature is on a 45 degree angle does not actuate reliably – will need some adjustments.
Other issues and observations:
-Code version is 0.7.24 – this is different than what Jim reports onmagicgirlcode.org which is 0.7.11
-My machine was missing the two head bolts but included a WPC style rear latch assembly – but I’m not sure how the latch can be used safely with this cabinet with a neck beneath the head – will find some suitable head bolts…
-Are there different playfield versions? My center drain post is labelled “The Magic Post” but I’ve seen others online labelled ”Theatre of Magic Post”…
The large “?” insert in front of the Scoop looks like it was cut out later as an afterthought. You can see a previous insert labelled “Arthur’s Magic” or something like that underneath.
-Can’t find free play setting… have to actuate coin switches to add credits.
-“Wizard” playing mode does not function
-My “evil winking genie” plastic at the top of the mini playfield stack is mounted with 2 screws and two small spacers. This differs from Kaneda’s video which shows this plastic mounted on two springs.
-The data ribbon cable coming out of the computer case in bottom of cabinet has no slot cut out so we have to be careful not to “shear off” ribbon cable if computer box is fully tightened! My box came with only 2 of 4 thumbscrews installed on the cover and they were very loose to accommodate ribbon cable.
-The original left and right ramp lock mechs will be needed to make the main multiball mode function. Can they be added?
-The “impossible” standup switch under the left ramp does indeed look impossible to hit! It lights the ball save for either outlane.
-The power switch is on the rear of the machine… use a power bar!
-My 3D owl was facing backwards like others. You can turn it to face forward easily
I just posted my MG Day one report on Pinside - here it is:
Here is my first day testing report on my MG #006 that I picked up from John on Feb 28, 2017. Bear in mind that there are many issues here right out of the box. This machine is not playable yet due to ball hangup issues. I consider all 19+2 MG machines to be prototypes and from what I have seen here and from looking at other peoples’ pics and videos for their MGs I suspect that each machine is different in some ways. I hope this info will assist other owners and I’m very curious if they share these issues.
When I picked up from John I asked him the following:
Does Multiball work? “No”
Is it a code issue only? “Yes” (I don’t think this is true…)
Does the magnaflip playfield work? “Yes”
Does the magnetic “hare” bumper work or do we need to add a magnet under the playfield? “Yes you have to add the magnet and this an optional mod. The code is working for the magnet. I will send you the specs for the magnet. There are several optional mods that will be available and I will publish the info online.”
Setup and Issue Photos:
https://goo.gl/photos/HjHDVdKRqYXHxWFh8
Playfield Issues and notes on my machine:
-Ball hangup issue on ramp beside diverter – ball hits closed diverter and gets stuck behind yellow post. I’m guessing there used to be a lock mech here. May have to install another post to alleviate this…
-Ball cannot clear under ramp diverter – there is not enough room when diverter is opened. May have to install spacers to raise diverter mech slightly. This diverter fires in COIL TEST but I have not seen it fire in a game.
-Ball hangup on right ramp return to right inlane – ball does not fit through hole. Need to adjust ramp and metal piece
-Tesla skill shot – only one opto switch installed and this switch was installed with two sided tape so that the opto LEDs were sticking into the ball path where the ball smashes into them! Need to install spacers for the Opto PCB.
-Spinning disc and centre flipper up post are not flush with playfield and are on an angle – will adjust
-Main plunger shot not hitting hard enough due to plunger gauge metal keeping ball too far from plunger when at rest. My game included a second shooter gauge with graphics on it – I will install to see if problem alleviates. EDIT – installed new gauge, looks nicer but is exact same size. Need a longer shooter rod… will try shorter barrel spring on outside or other measures.
-Center Floating Spinner (jinx Spinner) works but spinner occasionally STRIKES opto LEDs! – must adjust opto PCB mounting so that there is more spinner clearance.
-There may be some switch matrix issues – ball trough opto column 7 switches all light up in switch test whenever column 6 switches are triggered (in switch test). EDIT this may be some weirdness with the Switch test itself – curious if other MG machines exhibit this behavior. Did not notice any trough switch errors while playing.
-Saucer kickout is too strong – ball smashes into Spinning lamp plastics directly above. Maybe missing a deflector?
-Spinning lamp assembly has already fallen apart from testing (and crazy saucer kickout)… will need to modify the 3D printed parts to make it spin smoother
-Ramp entry switch mount is only on one side and is not secure – need to figure out a way to secure from both sides of ramp.
One of the head hinge bolts is loose! – Tightened.
-LCD screen does not have any protective plastic over it and circular ramp is too close and actually touches screen – will to try to move it back… needs a plastic shield over the screen like CV has.
-While testing the machine seemed to CRASH and lock up on me once – cycled power and now machine booted but nothing on LCD… after a few more power cycles it started up ok. Will monitor this behaviour
Coil Issues/ Results from COIL TEST in TEST menu:
Right Magna Flip fires as Left Magna Flip
Left Magna Flip (14) fires as Right Magna Flip
Mystic Ring magnet (29) fires as Box Air Magnet (30) (Possibly re-tasked coil assignment)
Box Air magnet (30) doesn’t fire anything
Bagatelle Popper (31) fires saucer – NOTE this saucer kickout hole fires too hard and shoots ball straight up smashing into spinning genie lamp plastics
Diverter Up Post (11) fires Knocker in head – (Possibly re-tasked coil assignment)
Wand Grab left (12) does nothing
Wand Grab Right Fires Diverter on circular ramp
Left Magic Lock (16) doesn’t do anything
Right Magic Lock doesn’t do anything
(I’m Guessing the Magic Lock coils were the ramp locks for multiball in the protos)
Hare Jet (19) does nothing – needs magnet installed under playfield – connector is there labelled “Hare Jet” for future addition
Magic Mirror (23) does nothing?
Hare Spinning Disc (24 and 25) does nothing… is this a feature that was removed?
Jinx Wheel motor (26) works – mine turns clockwise
Lion Saw Motor (27) does nothing – needs motor/upgraded assembly…
Magna Hare (9) works – magna save above right inlane
Playfield Diverter (10) works – diverts between full left orbit shot or diverts to kings chamber from top
Switch Issues
Ramp Entry switch not working (FIXED - was disconnected under playfield)
Missing Saw 1 Switch - mod/upgrade needed
Tesla Skill 2 (63) One sided opto switch is working but no other Tesla opto switches are installed that I can see – there is a hole for one other opto pair…
“Lead Coin” standup target fires as “Jack Mystery” switch # 48
Playing Notes:
-This machine does not go into ball search so far (Like Kaneda’s does in his videos)– missing this feature?
-The spring under the Magnetic Bumper cap is an actuator for a switch which is working.
-Right orbit shots do not light POWER letters to enable magna flip mini playfield… I did notice that you can enable the magnaflip by centre shots (to be confirmed) … the saucer magnet DID grab the ball but the VUK would not shoot the ball up to the mini playfield to start the mode… NOTE: it looks like all hardware is there to enable magna flip mini playfield. There are no targets to shoot at (as described by Jim) but there is a rear exit shot that goes to another small metal ramp that feeds into a another mini playfield above the pop bumpers. Then it looks like the ball falls through a hole and into the pops area.
-The levitating ball feature works but I can’t get the ball to levitate “above” the magnet as described… it hovers inside the square magnet assembly thus far. Also note that the blue standup target that activates this feature is on a 45 degree angle does not actuate reliably – will need some adjustments.
Other issues and observations:
-Code version is 0.7.24 – this is different than what Jim reports onmagicgirlcode.org which is 0.7.11
-My machine was missing the two head bolts but included a WPC style rear latch assembly – but I’m not sure how the latch can be used safely with this cabinet with a neck beneath the head – will find some suitable head bolts…
-Are there different playfield versions? My center drain post is labelled “The Magic Post” but I’ve seen others online labelled ”Theatre of Magic Post”…
The large “?” insert in front of the Scoop looks like it was cut out later as an afterthought. You can see a previous insert labelled “Arthur’s Magic” or something like that underneath.
-Can’t find free play setting… have to actuate coin switches to add credits.
-“Wizard” playing mode does not function
-My “evil winking genie” plastic at the top of the mini playfield stack is mounted with 2 screws and two small spacers. This differs from Kaneda’s video which shows this plastic mounted on two springs.
-The data ribbon cable coming out of the computer case in bottom of cabinet has no slot cut out so we have to be careful not to “shear off” ribbon cable if computer box is fully tightened! My box came with only 2 of 4 thumbscrews installed on the cover and they were very loose to accommodate ribbon cable.
-The original left and right ramp lock mechs will be needed to make the main multiball mode function. Can they be added?
-The “impossible” standup switch under the left ramp does indeed look impossible to hit! It lights the ball save for either outlane.
-The power switch is on the rear of the machine… use a power bar!
-My 3D owl was facing backwards like others. You can turn it to face forward easily
luch
Super Member
Fifty
Active Member
I enjoyed the read on Pinside Nick... I'm glad you opened yours and gave this feedback it seems like applejuice would like to help folks out with the game and he really needed some feedback from someone who knew what they were doing. It really is a great looking pin!
shinynick
Member
Thanks, yes I'm glad I got it... no one thought these would ever see the light of day...
It's not a job - it's an adventure!
I should be able to work out most of it - not sure about multiball with the ramp locks though - I have a sinking feeling that Jpop could never get it working reliably...
It's not a job - it's an adventure!
I should be able to work out most of it - not sure about multiball with the ramp locks though - I have a sinking feeling that Jpop could never get it working reliably...
Chris Bardon
Well-Known Member
This has been a hell of a journey, and it's still far from over. Really looking forward to seeing whether you can make a working game out of this!
Luckydogg420
Member
I'm still in shock that these games were made and delivered to customers. Now they just need to get finished.
Congrats on the beautiful machine.
Congrats on the beautiful machine.
Very impressed with Houdini based on what I've heard and how short their production clock was.
Still, can't help but feel the whole thing is just icky by mere association with JPOP. Wonder why they even needed to team up with him if they didn't use his services... Maybe I'm missing something or just poorly informed on this whole business arrangement.
Still, can't help but feel the whole thing is just icky by mere association with JPOP. Wonder why they even needed to team up with him if they didn't use his services... Maybe I'm missing something or just poorly informed on this whole business arrangement.
Some history of Houdini leading up to the Texas Pinball Festival 2017:
Good morning all. This will likely be a very, long post, as I hope to catch folks up on all things Houdini. I figured one long post was better than trying to respond to each question/post individually. So, you may want to refill your cup of coffee before continuing on. (edit: having now finished typing this, it is really, really, really long, you may have for refill your coffee half way through, is there an award for longest post ever on pinside?, heck I wonder if it will even let me post this)).
The last four months have been a wild ride, and to be honest, not something I would ever repeat. Everyone here knows the history of AP and Houdini, well maybe not accurate history, but enough to understand the challenges the company faced after first revealing themselves in Vegas and then at EXPO, where there was already changes happening (e.g. the move to Balcer from jpop). That 'history' was certainly something I gave serious thought to and after a few conversations with AP, I then met with Joe individually to really talk about it and to get comfortable with where things were and where they were going. I then decided to take the leap and started work a few days before Thanksgiving. At that point Joe was still working on the very first drawing of the layout and was anxious to get feedback.
The concept of the Stage and the Trunk were in those first drawings, but the design of those changed quite a bit. A pattern of what goes on with Joe and I. I come up with crazy ideas and ask for stuff I want in the game, he tells me not going to happen, either for technical or money reasons. I gently keep pushing or adjusting my requests, and in one case, actually did a little model to show what I wanted. Then Joe ultimately figures it out how to make it work. Even two weeks or so before TPF, when we were finally assembling a game, he walked into my office and said 'the right subway trough is not going to be there for TPF'. I told him he better find a way, too much code would need to change, it was too critical to how things work, and in typical Joe fashion, thirty minutes later he walked back in says "don't worry about it, I figured it out" and then within a day he was able to get our vendor to re-make a part to resolve the issue.
And I guess that is a great segue to one of the big questions that keeps being asked 'how did you guys do this in four months'. And it was not just you guys asking that but many industry veterans were beyond shocked and wanted to know the same. Let me say this, Joe Balcer and Jim Thornton are amazing guys, and it has been an honor and a pleasure to work with them on this incredible journey. These guys know how to get things done (I really wish we had Jim sooner than we did, I don't think he started with us until February and if we had had him a month or two earlier, things we would have been less stressful and further along). They both have such great relationships with people in the industry. When something is needed, they know who to call and they have known these guys for years, who want to help them out, who genuinely want us to succeed. I was consistently amazed how on custom parts, how quickly vendors would show up at our offices with samples. Seemed every day vendors were coming in to drop things off. I'd also like to thank them all for doing such a great job of not sharing info on what they may have seen. I was surprised how well we could keep things under wraps, seemed there were a couple of leaks and we were not happy about that, but overall, I think we were able to keep things secret and we clearly surprised the world of pinball.
Of course the real reason the game was done in four months, is Joe, Jim and I put in the hours that would be equivalent to 7 months. 11 to 12 hour days, 6 days a week, morphed into 14 hour days, 7 days a week the last three to four weeks. We can all wear multiple hats, which was key to getting this done. We really wanted to make TPF and we set that has a challenge. No better way to reveal the game that had a major show. Many who know that was our goal thought we were crazy, but to paraphrase Jim Harbaugh, if folks are not laughing at your goals, then your goals are not big enough.
Speaking of wearing many hats, we are looking to expand the team. We are looking for an EE, ME and I believe a production manager. If you have interest, feel free to send your resume to joe@american-pinball.com.
A week or so before TPF our marketing guy put out we would have a game there. At that point, despite false reports here on pinside, we did not have a flipping game, no whitewood, no nothing. Needless to say I was not happy with the marketing guy. From the day I started, Joe and I agreed on a two things, first, we would not take a flashing box of lights to TPF, it was a flipping game or bust. Based on where things were at one point, we joked about bringing something that could flip and have no lights and no balls (as some of you know, we actually did forget to bring balls for the game). The second, we would do whatever we could to convince ownership that we should not do pre-orders or take deposits until games were going down the production line. Here we were a week or so before games would need to ship and we had not much more than a great looking empty cabinet, and an unwired playfield with a few mechs and flat rails on it. We did finally get a flipping machine with no lights, about 10 days before TPF, although a good chunk of each day it was being worked on as more switches were added, mechas etc. The game finally had lamps, last Monday, about 2AM, and the second machine, which was totally untested, was finished on Tuesday, while the truck was waiting to pick it up. Btw, thanks to Chris from kingpin games, who got our machines there for us, and patiently waited while we finished hooking things up and packing them up, etc. As some saw, we used black shrink wrap (no, it was not garbage bags), since we wanted to keep eyes off until the reveal. Was pretty cool, that Houdini traveled to TPF with Spooky's games (Jetsons, Rob Zombie) and JJPs Dialed In (there may have also been BM66), which I guess made that truck the United Nations of pinball. Good thing it got there.
Let me shift to some aspects of the game and the show. First, there was an 'alternative fact' in this or the other thread. Despite what someone said, the playfield was NEVER lifted during the show. Actually, Saturday night at around 1AM, Ed Robertson was playing and he somehow got the flipper button to come flying off the cabinet, we did lift the playfield up on the supports to put it back on, oh and Ben Heck was at the ready to peak inside -- yes Ben, I saw that
. Having said that, we did take one of the machines off the floor twice. Once on Friday night, when we had a power supply issue, I guess that is what happens when you don't have time to test a machine, fortunately we had a spare and the machine was back on the floor later. That same machine was taken off the floor on Saturday to repair a bad switch in a VUK. It's return to the floor was slightly delayed as we gave a few vendors/friends a chance to play it before bringing it back on the floor. We did have to partially remove the glass a few times for ball traps. Both Saturday and Sunday morning when we got there, we had the glass off so we could clean the playfield, tweak a few things and test new code. We did push a few bits of code to try fix some things, like the display not properly showing scores for some players (although it would show them at end of game). There were a few other things we fixed, that probably nobody even noticed were wrong.
Although I have to laugh, that there was a bug that ever single player saw and not one person caught. As some did notice, among the end of ball bonus items was 'No Lighting Bolts Bonus' that was worth 1,000 points, and it turns out, these bonus point were not being added to players scores (although some could argue that not "delivering" the points was appropriate for the category (yes, I went there)). We also has an issue with the ball trough that sometimes led to a ball not getting put back into play, part code and part mechanical. Very frustrating to me, since if I had had the machine for another day or so, those issues with have been seen and addressed. But everyone was great about it and we even started doing some magic tricks when it happened to lighten the mood. We did have a handful of crashes, surprisingly few, but, as those who attended the seminar know, I apologized ahead of time
As far as 'lighting bolts', there are none of those in the machine, nor will your find a 'Z', even in the 'spirit board' high score entry screen. The lack of a was not taken well by a particular parts guy with a Z in his name. It was pointed out, that even though you can see it, you can still enter it. So if you see a Z, its as not done by us
Again, as a reminder, nothing that was done by John was kept, we started over from scratch, keeping nothing but the name.
Good morning all. This will likely be a very, long post, as I hope to catch folks up on all things Houdini. I figured one long post was better than trying to respond to each question/post individually. So, you may want to refill your cup of coffee before continuing on. (edit: having now finished typing this, it is really, really, really long, you may have for refill your coffee half way through, is there an award for longest post ever on pinside?, heck I wonder if it will even let me post this)).
The last four months have been a wild ride, and to be honest, not something I would ever repeat. Everyone here knows the history of AP and Houdini, well maybe not accurate history, but enough to understand the challenges the company faced after first revealing themselves in Vegas and then at EXPO, where there was already changes happening (e.g. the move to Balcer from jpop). That 'history' was certainly something I gave serious thought to and after a few conversations with AP, I then met with Joe individually to really talk about it and to get comfortable with where things were and where they were going. I then decided to take the leap and started work a few days before Thanksgiving. At that point Joe was still working on the very first drawing of the layout and was anxious to get feedback.
The concept of the Stage and the Trunk were in those first drawings, but the design of those changed quite a bit. A pattern of what goes on with Joe and I. I come up with crazy ideas and ask for stuff I want in the game, he tells me not going to happen, either for technical or money reasons. I gently keep pushing or adjusting my requests, and in one case, actually did a little model to show what I wanted. Then Joe ultimately figures it out how to make it work. Even two weeks or so before TPF, when we were finally assembling a game, he walked into my office and said 'the right subway trough is not going to be there for TPF'. I told him he better find a way, too much code would need to change, it was too critical to how things work, and in typical Joe fashion, thirty minutes later he walked back in says "don't worry about it, I figured it out" and then within a day he was able to get our vendor to re-make a part to resolve the issue.
And I guess that is a great segue to one of the big questions that keeps being asked 'how did you guys do this in four months'. And it was not just you guys asking that but many industry veterans were beyond shocked and wanted to know the same. Let me say this, Joe Balcer and Jim Thornton are amazing guys, and it has been an honor and a pleasure to work with them on this incredible journey. These guys know how to get things done (I really wish we had Jim sooner than we did, I don't think he started with us until February and if we had had him a month or two earlier, things we would have been less stressful and further along). They both have such great relationships with people in the industry. When something is needed, they know who to call and they have known these guys for years, who want to help them out, who genuinely want us to succeed. I was consistently amazed how on custom parts, how quickly vendors would show up at our offices with samples. Seemed every day vendors were coming in to drop things off. I'd also like to thank them all for doing such a great job of not sharing info on what they may have seen. I was surprised how well we could keep things under wraps, seemed there were a couple of leaks and we were not happy about that, but overall, I think we were able to keep things secret and we clearly surprised the world of pinball.
Of course the real reason the game was done in four months, is Joe, Jim and I put in the hours that would be equivalent to 7 months. 11 to 12 hour days, 6 days a week, morphed into 14 hour days, 7 days a week the last three to four weeks. We can all wear multiple hats, which was key to getting this done. We really wanted to make TPF and we set that has a challenge. No better way to reveal the game that had a major show. Many who know that was our goal thought we were crazy, but to paraphrase Jim Harbaugh, if folks are not laughing at your goals, then your goals are not big enough.
Speaking of wearing many hats, we are looking to expand the team. We are looking for an EE, ME and I believe a production manager. If you have interest, feel free to send your resume to joe@american-pinball.com.
A week or so before TPF our marketing guy put out we would have a game there. At that point, despite false reports here on pinside, we did not have a flipping game, no whitewood, no nothing. Needless to say I was not happy with the marketing guy. From the day I started, Joe and I agreed on a two things, first, we would not take a flashing box of lights to TPF, it was a flipping game or bust. Based on where things were at one point, we joked about bringing something that could flip and have no lights and no balls (as some of you know, we actually did forget to bring balls for the game). The second, we would do whatever we could to convince ownership that we should not do pre-orders or take deposits until games were going down the production line. Here we were a week or so before games would need to ship and we had not much more than a great looking empty cabinet, and an unwired playfield with a few mechs and flat rails on it. We did finally get a flipping machine with no lights, about 10 days before TPF, although a good chunk of each day it was being worked on as more switches were added, mechas etc. The game finally had lamps, last Monday, about 2AM, and the second machine, which was totally untested, was finished on Tuesday, while the truck was waiting to pick it up. Btw, thanks to Chris from kingpin games, who got our machines there for us, and patiently waited while we finished hooking things up and packing them up, etc. As some saw, we used black shrink wrap (no, it was not garbage bags), since we wanted to keep eyes off until the reveal. Was pretty cool, that Houdini traveled to TPF with Spooky's games (Jetsons, Rob Zombie) and JJPs Dialed In (there may have also been BM66), which I guess made that truck the United Nations of pinball. Good thing it got there.
Let me shift to some aspects of the game and the show. First, there was an 'alternative fact' in this or the other thread. Despite what someone said, the playfield was NEVER lifted during the show. Actually, Saturday night at around 1AM, Ed Robertson was playing and he somehow got the flipper button to come flying off the cabinet, we did lift the playfield up on the supports to put it back on, oh and Ben Heck was at the ready to peak inside -- yes Ben, I saw that
Although I have to laugh, that there was a bug that ever single player saw and not one person caught. As some did notice, among the end of ball bonus items was 'No Lighting Bolts Bonus' that was worth 1,000 points, and it turns out, these bonus point were not being added to players scores (although some could argue that not "delivering" the points was appropriate for the category (yes, I went there)). We also has an issue with the ball trough that sometimes led to a ball not getting put back into play, part code and part mechanical. Very frustrating to me, since if I had had the machine for another day or so, those issues with have been seen and addressed. But everyone was great about it and we even started doing some magic tricks when it happened to lighten the mood. We did have a handful of crashes, surprisingly few, but, as those who attended the seminar know, I apologized ahead of time
BTW, the eyes do not 'glow' as bright as they do in the photos most have you seen, cameras seem to exaggerate it. For the most part the eyes remain a blue color, which was the color of Houdini's eyes. They do glow through a range of 'greens' when in seance mode. I may choose to turn them yellow and red as an indicator when a timer is getting close to expiring. Since i had no lamps until a week ago, there was no time to do fancy light shows and the like. Overall it seemed most folks like the eyes lighting up.
Early on when we were looking at ideas for the backglass, most of which featured Houdini (someone here posted that would be their preference), but when Joe and I saw the sketch with the stage, we really like that and how we could tie that in with the display. The idea of having parts of the curtain and the audience overlap the display we really liked. I did give our artist a lot of grief in Texas. When we had gotten the first rendition, I told him the heads were too high and blocking too much. He then changed that and it was much better. At some point he must have accidentally reverted to an earlier version and his big head is now too high, something we will adjust. It is a real backglass and I think it looks great when lighted (whether you like the art or not), it really has more richness then most translites.
As far as the art, like every machine ever made, some are going to love it and some are going to hate it. One of the challenges we had was taking a victorian era figure and making it into a pinball machine that needs some edge. it was our artist, Jeff Busch, who suggested going with a steampunk vibe. I was not all that familiar with steampunk, but after a one quick google, its was clear it was a perfect choice. We also asked our sound guy, Matt Kern, do incorporate the steampunk feel into the music. And I think the steampunk look also comes across in our display, most notably with the main score display that features turning gears and a 'flipping' style of the numbers.
One thing I've picked up on, is that there are very different relationships between designers and programers. Some designers have very strong feelings around the objectives and rules for their games and want to define and control those, some, it is the opposite, they want to focus on the design, geometry, etc and let the programmer figure out the rules, etc. In our case, it is the latter, Joe had the concept for the stage, and other than that had just a couple of 'demands' of the game, he expected me to handle the rest.
I did joke around quite a bit, that while we were building this machine, we had no chance to play it much before TPF and they were trusting that I knew what I was doing and could deliver. I know they were genuinely shocked as to how much of the rule set was implemented, it was far greater than what they had expected. I was pleased it was as stable as it was, since working with out the mechs and lamps is pretty challenging and it will be nice to finally have a machine to work with. At one point we were joking how I would only have six weeks with the machine and that would be challenging and then it was well, maybe a month, and when the joke became oh, well, 16 days, and at that point it was not so funny, ultimately it was less than a week, but, it was what it was and we did what we needed to to make it work.
Although this is an unlicensed theme, it is a very specific theme, e.g. not generic like 'fishing' or 'whitewater rafting', so in some ways it is the worst of both, you have a theme you have a responsibility to live up to and to be true to, but you don't have a pre-existing set of assets to really leverage. All of the sounds, callout, images, animations have to be done from scratch. Although I have always loved magic, like so many of you, and knew of Houdini, I did not really know the details of his life. I spent a lot of time researching and reading about him, so I could do him justice and keep to reality, vs what many have seen in the movies about him. I ultimately tried to create rules that would capture the different aspects of his life. As a result some of the prompts and screens are a little wordy, but we will work through that.
When i sat down to develop the rules, I first thought about the different types of players. At one end are novices, those who barely know what pinball is, but get a chance to play one, whether in a collectors home or on the street. These are folks who don't even realize pinball has rules, goals and objectives but I wanted to be sure they would have a fun experience. Then you have 'enthusiasts', who know rules and enjoy playing but are a little different then the third group, who are the hard core guys, focused on challenging shots, deep rules and lots of strategy. I then tried to create rules and features that would give each group enough to make them happy, not an easy task, but I feel I'm doing okay well with it.
Anyone who has seen the game, knows this is a shooters game, like many of Joe's games. It has challenging and some pretty tight shots. I will say, that after you play a few games, the shots are not as tight as they look. The tightest shot, the right inner loop, that can feed the catapult as well as start movie modes, is, as Terry from Pinball life immediately picked up on, right in the sweet spot of the flipper (where often is a ramp shot), so once you get over "freaking out" over how tight it is, you can start to make it. Saw plenty of players and obvious novices, hit it consistely. But they are tight shots, but at the same time, there are almost no posts in this game, and we do have what are very likely the thinnest stand-up targets ever used in a machine, there are not much thicker then a post, but they are targets and have value, so this gets back to my earlier comment, if you suck at pinball, and can't make shots, you are going to hit those targets and when you hit all six, which most will do, it lights up Seance Multiball, which uses three magnets under the playfield to create a really fun and surprising experience, that a novice will just love. The magnets sit one under each hand and one behind his head. It was great watching the surprise on folks faces when magnets kicked in and started doing crazy stuff.
Early on when we were looking at ideas for the backglass, most of which featured Houdini (someone here posted that would be their preference), but when Joe and I saw the sketch with the stage, we really like that and how we could tie that in with the display. The idea of having parts of the curtain and the audience overlap the display we really liked. I did give our artist a lot of grief in Texas. When we had gotten the first rendition, I told him the heads were too high and blocking too much. He then changed that and it was much better. At some point he must have accidentally reverted to an earlier version and his big head is now too high, something we will adjust. It is a real backglass and I think it looks great when lighted (whether you like the art or not), it really has more richness then most translites.
As far as the art, like every machine ever made, some are going to love it and some are going to hate it. One of the challenges we had was taking a victorian era figure and making it into a pinball machine that needs some edge. it was our artist, Jeff Busch, who suggested going with a steampunk vibe. I was not all that familiar with steampunk, but after a one quick google, its was clear it was a perfect choice. We also asked our sound guy, Matt Kern, do incorporate the steampunk feel into the music. And I think the steampunk look also comes across in our display, most notably with the main score display that features turning gears and a 'flipping' style of the numbers.
One thing I've picked up on, is that there are very different relationships between designers and programers. Some designers have very strong feelings around the objectives and rules for their games and want to define and control those, some, it is the opposite, they want to focus on the design, geometry, etc and let the programmer figure out the rules, etc. In our case, it is the latter, Joe had the concept for the stage, and other than that had just a couple of 'demands' of the game, he expected me to handle the rest.
I did joke around quite a bit, that while we were building this machine, we had no chance to play it much before TPF and they were trusting that I knew what I was doing and could deliver. I know they were genuinely shocked as to how much of the rule set was implemented, it was far greater than what they had expected. I was pleased it was as stable as it was, since working with out the mechs and lamps is pretty challenging and it will be nice to finally have a machine to work with. At one point we were joking how I would only have six weeks with the machine and that would be challenging and then it was well, maybe a month, and when the joke became oh, well, 16 days, and at that point it was not so funny, ultimately it was less than a week, but, it was what it was and we did what we needed to to make it work.
Although this is an unlicensed theme, it is a very specific theme, e.g. not generic like 'fishing' or 'whitewater rafting', so in some ways it is the worst of both, you have a theme you have a responsibility to live up to and to be true to, but you don't have a pre-existing set of assets to really leverage. All of the sounds, callout, images, animations have to be done from scratch. Although I have always loved magic, like so many of you, and knew of Houdini, I did not really know the details of his life. I spent a lot of time researching and reading about him, so I could do him justice and keep to reality, vs what many have seen in the movies about him. I ultimately tried to create rules that would capture the different aspects of his life. As a result some of the prompts and screens are a little wordy, but we will work through that.
When i sat down to develop the rules, I first thought about the different types of players. At one end are novices, those who barely know what pinball is, but get a chance to play one, whether in a collectors home or on the street. These are folks who don't even realize pinball has rules, goals and objectives but I wanted to be sure they would have a fun experience. Then you have 'enthusiasts', who know rules and enjoy playing but are a little different then the third group, who are the hard core guys, focused on challenging shots, deep rules and lots of strategy. I then tried to create rules and features that would give each group enough to make them happy, not an easy task, but I feel I'm doing okay well with it.
Anyone who has seen the game, knows this is a shooters game, like many of Joe's games. It has challenging and some pretty tight shots. I will say, that after you play a few games, the shots are not as tight as they look. The tightest shot, the right inner loop, that can feed the catapult as well as start movie modes, is, as Terry from Pinball life immediately picked up on, right in the sweet spot of the flipper (where often is a ramp shot), so once you get over "freaking out" over how tight it is, you can start to make it. Saw plenty of players and obvious novices, hit it consistely. But they are tight shots, but at the same time, there are almost no posts in this game, and we do have what are very likely the thinnest stand-up targets ever used in a machine, there are not much thicker then a post, but they are targets and have value, so this gets back to my earlier comment, if you suck at pinball, and can't make shots, you are going to hit those targets and when you hit all six, which most will do, it lights up Seance Multiball, which uses three magnets under the playfield to create a really fun and surprising experience, that a novice will just love. The magnets sit one under each hand and one behind his head. It was great watching the surprise on folks faces when magnets kicked in and started doing crazy stuff.